TEXAS: Proposed Legislative Bill seeks to undo the Fortis case and limit subrogation.
The Texas legislature has taken the initial step towards reversing the Texas Supreme Court ruling in the Fortis case which allowed health plans to contract for priority subrogation rights. Texas House bill 4095 seeks to limit group health and accident plan subrogation rights. Specifically, the bill would:
(1) subordinate an insurer’s subrogation rights to its insured’s right to recover;
(2) mandate an insurer share in the legal expenses to the same extent the insurer shared in the insured’s recovery; and
(3) deny an insurer’s right to recover against its insured’s first party recovery.
Texas House bill 4095 would require all injured individuals be “made whole” before any subrogation recovery.
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The economy is so bad that next time Paul McCartney may have to marry for money.
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Court of Appeals confers appellate victory, affirming summary judgment that Contractor Not Responsible for Sky Falling. Chamberlain♦McHaney obtained an appellate decision affirming a summary judgment for a general contractor who was alleged to have been responsible for a chandelier falling on the plaintiff in a local restaurant and brewery. The plaintiff, represented by the notorious Houston personal injury trial lawyer and flamboyant billionaire, John O’Quinn, sought $4,000,000 in damages. After pointing out that this unforeseeable mishap did not cause the plaintiff’s brewski to spiel, we argued that the general contractor should not be held vicariously liable for the acts of its independent electrical subcontractor nor did the general contractor owe a duty to the plaintiff for the design, fabrication or installation of the light fixture. The trial judge and court of appeals agreed, pouring the plaintiff out of court. Gordon McHaney of our firm handled this successful defense at trial and Tim Poteet handled the successful appeal.
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In separate April 3 rulings, the Texas Supreme Court shielded two defendants in separate cases from liability for injuries sustained by employees of subcontractors: a premises owner that purchased workers’ compensation insurance for all employees on its job site and a general contractor who “provided” the coverage but did not pay for or procure it. In effect, these two cases extend employer immunity to non-employers on job sites under certain circumstances. Entergy v Summers (Tex 2009); HC Beck v Rice (Tex.2009). There are several bills currently working their way through the legislature which, if passed, would overturn these decisions.